Page 17
17
DEX
“Asa?” I called as I stepped into the apartment. “Are you home?”
“Just got out of the shower.” His muffled reply came from the den. “Be out when I’ve got clothes on.”
My body tightened, and my cock went half hard as an image of Asa getting out of the shower, his skin slicked with water, invaded my mind.
Angrily, I leaned back against the door and drew in a deep breath, trying to force my stupid body to calm the fuck down.
We hadn’t hooked up since that night at our parents’ house two weeks ago, and it was getting harder to remember why that was a good thing.
I stuck around for about half an hour after we cleaned up that night, but we were both distracted and stuck in our heads. Instead of talking about it like adults, I bailed, and we were both pretending like nothing happened.
I had no clue if he’d pulled back because he was worried about getting caught and had decided that it was best not to tempt fate or if he regretted it and just didn’t want to do it again.
Either way, I should be glad that we were on the same page, but I hated not knowing what was going on in his head.
One positive thing to come out of that night was the shift in Asa’s attitude toward me. He still loved to annoy and antagonize me, but now it was teasing and playful. He also didn’t walk around with a storm cloud over his head like before, and I’d seen him smile and laugh more in the past few weeks than I had in all the years I’d known him.
I should be happy we were finally in a place where we could have fun and be around each other without fighting, but this new version of Asa was fucking with me in a completely new way.
I’d never admit it to anyone, but I liked having him here. I liked his company and the routine we’d fallen into. I enjoyed cooking for him, and the apartment felt empty when he wasn’t around.
Watching him slowly let his walls down and open up had affected me in ways I wasn’t ready to acknowledge, let alone unpack. It showed how much he trusted me, and I found myself doing the same with him.
That was a good thing, but it was also dangerous as hell because the more I got to know the real him, the more I liked him, and not just as a friend.
“All done,” Asa said, tugging his shirt down as he came around the corner of the hallway like he’d pulled it on while walking.
He paused and gave me a quick once-over. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” I shook my head, trying to physically shake myself free from my thoughts. “Just zoned for a second there.”
“Rough day?”
“Yeah.” I tossed my bag into the living room. My day had sucked, but that wasn’t why I was so distracted. “Can you help me get something out of my car?”
“Sure.” He shot me a curious look as he slipped his feet into his sneakers. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Just all peopled out,” I said as we headed into the hall. “Dealing with the public is exhausting.”
“Tell me about it.” We fell into step beside each other and made our way down the hall. “I only have to talk to people for a few minutes at a time, and I have a hard time keeping my customer service face on. Spending as much one-on-one time with people as you do is my literal nightmare.”
“Most of my clients are fine, but a few of them forget that trainers are there to help you work out, not play therapist or be their verbal punching bag when they’re pissed off at something in their lives. I bet that’s something you deal with a lot.” We paused in front of the elevator.
“Not the therapist part,” he said as I pushed the button. “But getting yelled at or threatened is just part of the job now. I swear it used to only be a weekly thing a few years ago. Now it’s a daily occurrence.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed it’s getting worse too. And I don’t know what it is, but it seemed like everyone was in an extra shitty mood today. We actually had to break up a fight.”
The elevator dinged, then the door slid open. Thankfully it was empty, and we got on.
“A fight? Like a fistfight, or people yelling at each other?” He leaned against the wall as I pushed the lobby button.
“An actual fight. I didn’t see it start, but apparently one guy walked through the other one’s shot while he was filming his set, and instead of using his words, he shoved the guy into the weight rack.”
“You’re telling me a grown-ass man put his hands on someone because he walked past his camera while he was filming in a public gym?”
“Yup. I really wish the owners would ban filming like some other gyms have done. I get wanting to record your set to show your trainer your technique or document your progress, but this obsession people have with being influencers and treating the gym like a studio is getting insane.”
He tilted his head to the side and studied me. “What else is bothering you?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly, probably too quickly. “I’m just not looking forward to having to go back out in a few hours.”
The elevator stopped, and the doors slid open with another loud ping .
“Can you cancel?” he asked, falling into step with me as I headed toward the back parking lot.
“I could, but people would notice if I didn’t show.” I let out a weary sigh. “I really wish past me said no to the invite. All I want to do is put on my comfy clothes and chill on my couch, but now I have to go to a housewarming party because past me forgot he’s not the same person who actually has to go through with the plans he agreed to.”
“Your friends are weird. Who has a housewarming party on Tuesday night? Why not have it on the weekend like a normal person?” He pushed the security door open and held it so I could go first.
“No clue. I’m guessing they picked today so they don’t have to worry about anyone drinking too much or staying too late if we all have to work in the morning.” I pushed the main door open and waited for him to walk through it.
“That makes sense,” Asa mused. “And with your friends, that’s a legit concern. Of course they could just skip hosting a party at all if they’re so worried about their new place getting fucked up.”
I chuckled and pulled my keys out of my pocket. “They could have, but then how would they show off and make us feel like poors because we don’t have houses and probably never will.”
Laughing, Asa followed me to my parking space.
“Right, how could I forget that bragging and making people feel like shit is a crucial part of the homeownership journey?” He waited as I unlocked my car with the fob.
“Exactly. Now you understand how it works.” I opened one of the back doors.
He eyed the wooden dresser crammed into the backseat. “That’s a tight fit.”
“Tell me about it. At least I knew it was secure on the way home.”
“How many people did it take to get it in there?”
“One really big dude.”
“Seriously?” He pointed to the other side of the car. “Want me to push while you pull it out?”
“Yeah, that should work.”
“How did one dude get this in here by himself?” he asked as he walked around the back of my car.
“He said he used to work for a moving company before he started repairing and reselling furniture. I imagine he got really good at fitting big things in all sorts of holes.”
Asa snickered and opened the door to the backseat. “Imagine hearing that last sentence with no context.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I probably could have found a better way to phrase that.” Ducking down, I gripped the dresser. “Ready?”
“Yup,” he answered. “On three?”
“On three,” I confirmed.
“One, two, three,” he counted down.
It wasn’t easy, but between the two of us, we managed to slide the dresser across my backseat until only the edge was still in the car.
Asa came around the car and helped me pull the dresser the rest of the way free.
Once the car was locked and we had solid grips on the dresser, we carried it toward the building.
“It’s kinda sad that your friends seem like they’re still the exact same people they were in high school,” he said, circling back to what we’d been talking about before reaching my car.
“They are,” I agreed, picking up the tail of the conversation. “And it’s getting harder to relate to them the older we get.”
“It’s not unheard of to outgrow your childhood friends. I mean, it’s not like I have any experience with that, considering I don’t have any old friends to outgrow, but it sounds like that’s happening with you.”
“It is, and it’s been happening for years.”
“Then why do you still hang out with them?”
“Because it’s easier to just meet up every once in a while and wait until we eventually drift apart than it is to cause drama and walk away.” We paused so I could punch my code into the main door.
“Fair point,” he said, bracing the dresser with his leg and taking most of the weight so I could open the door.
“And this way I can still keep up with all the gossip while not having to put in much face time with any of them.”
He laughed as we carried it through the door. “Also a fair point.”
“How was your day?”
He shrugged. “Not bad, but not really good either.”
“Did Isaac do anything interesting?” We paused again so I could pull open the security door.
I’d never met any of his work friends, but they sounded like a fun group. Way more fun than my coworkers. And I lived for his stories about Isaac and his many adventures.
He glanced around like he was making sure we were alone as we carried the dresser through the main lobby. “Do you consider getting caught taking dick pics for your boyfriend in the work bathroom interesting?”
“Seriously?” I chuckled and hit the elevator up button with my knee. “Didn’t he get caught doing that a few weeks ago too?”
“And a few times before that. He really needs to learn how to lock the door when he’s getting his freak on.”
“Who was the unfortunate soul who caught him this time?”
“Jesse.” He grinned. “I was on break when it happened.”
“Did you know Isaac was in there when Jesse walked in on him?”
His grin went wicked. “Maybe.”
The elevator dinged as it reached our floor, and the doors slid open. We waited as an older couple got off.
“You’re a brat. You know that?” I braced the dresser with my knee and pushed the button to my floor.
He blinked at me, his expression melting into one of pure innocence as the doors slid closed. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Yeah, I’ve known you too long for that to work on me. You like being a shit-disturber.”
“Not my fault they give me so much shit to disturb.” He furrowed his brow. “Ew, no. That didn’t come out right.”
“No, it did not. But tell me what happened when Jesse walked in on him. That can’t be the whole story.”
“I couldn’t see anything, but I heard Jesse tell Isaac to put his dick away if he wasn’t going to use it for pissing.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Is it weird I feel bad for both of them? Poor dude was just trying to make some thirst traps, and instead his coworker gets an eyeful of his dick.”
The elevator stopped, and the doors slid open with another loud ping .
“I think it’s hilarious,” Asa said as we carried the dresser down the hall.
“Of course you do.”
“It wouldn’t have happened if Isaac remembered to lock the door, so it’s kinda his fault.”
“And yours for not warning Jesse,” I pointed out as we stopped in front of my apartment. I braced the dresser with my leg again so I could get the door open.
“Would you have warned him?” he asked as we carried it into my apartment.
“No,” I conceded, pausing so he could kick the door closed behind him. “Your coworkers are way more interesting than mine. The biggest staff drama we’ve got going on right now is a shaker thief.”
“A shaker thief?” He shot me a confused look as we carried the dresser past the living room and into the small hallway at the back of my apartment.
“Yeah, like those cups for protein shakes with the springs in them.”
“Oh, right, of course.” He shot me a wry grin. “ Those shaker cups. I definitely knew exactly what you were talking about. I was just confused because I’ve always called them ‘why the fuck is there a spring in this cup’ cups.”
I laughed and almost dropped the dresser when he paused in front of my bedroom door.
We bobbled the huge piece of furniture for a second, the entire thing swaying precariously until we got a solid grip on it again.
“Why did you stop?”
“Aren’t we putting it in your room?” He looked at the door, then back at me, a bewildered expression on his face.
“No, I got it for you.” My cheeks and neck flushed hot for some stupid reason.
“For me?” He blinked a few times, a mess of emotions crossing his features in rapid succession.
I nodded, hating how warm my face felt. “So you have somewhere to put your stuff.”
He smiled, his cheeks pinking the same shade as mine probably were. “Thanks.”
“It’s no problem.” I nodded to the den. “Should we?”
“Oh, right.” He huffed out a laugh. “Yeah.”
We carried the dresser into the den and paused. “Where do you want it?”
He glanced around the small space. “Maybe under the window?”
“Is that good?” I asked when the dresser was in place.
He nodded, a shy smile on his lips. “Yeah, it’s perfect.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for a bed or a cot or something that will fit in here. Sleeping on an inflatable mattress can’t be good for your back.”
“Probably not.” He shot me another of those shy smiles that shook something loose inside me. “But it can’t be any worse than the old futon I used to sleep on.”
“We’ll get you a proper bed.” I glanced around the small space.
Even with only the camping mattress, the second bedside table from my bedroom set, the dresser, and a bookshelf in the room, the space was cramped.
“Thanks.” He glanced at the bookshelf, then back at me. “For everything.”
I’d helped him move the shelf from my living room into the den last week when he brought his book collection home from wherever he’d stored it.
I knew how important his books were to him, and I didn’t like the idea of them sitting in boxes when I had a nearly empty shelf in the next room.
“I’m just glad it’s getting good use,” I said lamely, not sure what to do with the mess of emotions rushing through me.
“When do you have to leave for that party?”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. “About an hour and a half, unfortunately.”
“How about you do whatever you need to do, and I’ll get dinner ready? Then you can relax until you have to leave.” he suggested.
“Yeah, okay.”
We stood there for a few beats smiling at each other before Asa looked away, breaking whatever spell had been cast over us.
The last thing I wanted was to go to this stupid party tonight, but maybe an hour or two away from the apartment would help me get my head in order and remember that Asa was my stepbrother and roommate and whatever happened at our parents’ was a mistake.